“It is okay. I know you did what you could.” I hugged him tighter and he held me for several minutes before he finally started to loosen his grip.
“Let’s go home.” He quickly walked to the passenger door and opened it.
IT WAS STRANGE TO RETURN to my old life. The room I grew up in looked like a memory I had forgotten. The memories came back to me as I crawled into my bed and stared at the ceiling. I had changed so much during my time away from my old life. I was no longer a virgin, no longer worried about finding love, and I didn’t really care much about my sister’s teasing—which they started up again as soon as they saw me. They both still lived with our father, but they were rarely there. Bethany had a new boyfriend and spent more nights with him than she did at home and Cassandra had really started to party a lot more than she previously had when it was the two of them going out together. It was hard for me to look at them and see the state my father had fall into—I tried not to blame them for leaving him alone, even though it was the true emotion I felt. If one of them would have disappeared and he was suffering, I would have been hard pressed to leave his side, even if I didn’t believe what he said. It was clear that was part of their problem. Even though he was telling the truth, they thought he had drifted into some form of madness while he was gone and imagined the whole thing. They just assumed I was dead in the snow somewhere after my foolish quest failed and he came home on his own.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” My father leaned against my doorway and pulled me back from my thoughts.
“With me or with you?” I rolled to my side. “You don’t look well. Have you been taking your medication?”
“I’m fine.” He forced a smile. “I let my grief get the best of me—I imagined awful things and I knew it was all my fault that you were alone in that cage.”
“It probably wasn’t awful as you imagine. They were victims, just like we were.” I wasn’t sure how much I should tell him, but I wanted him to let the awful thoughts.
“They were beasts that locked us up in cages. I would hardly call that being a victim.” He scoffed and his face twisted to a look of disdain.
“They were more than that.” I shook my head in disagreement. “They were kind to me after you left. They were cursed to live an eternity in that castle and tearing that rose from the vine nearly killed Alexander.”
“I’m just glad you finally found a way to escape.” His eyes reflected sadness, even though he had me there in front of him.
“I didn’t have to escape. They let me go.” I shifted my legs and sat up on the bed. “I think I need to take a look at your medication and see how much you’ve missed.”
“I’ll take it now!” He shook his head and grinned.
A DAY TURNED INTO A week and a week turned into two. The ring on my left hand was a reminder that they were still there and I missed them all immensely, but my old life was consumed me. My father seemed to return to his old self. He had missed a lot of work and he had missed more doses of medicine than I could count, but with me there, he was able to get back on track. He let his vices consume him while I was gone, but he didn’t seem to need them with me there to keep him distracted. During the day, I was able to research the witch. I still wanted to find Guinevere, even if I didn’t know how I would actually defeat her if I did. Could a modern gun destroy a witch from her time? Could anything besides Excalibur end her curse?
I wasn’t even sure her death would lift the curse, but it was the only option I could come up with. I certainly didn’t expect her to be reasonable. I found mentions of her throughout history, but the stories were never connected due to the distance between the sightings. They spoke of an emerald eyed witch in the middle ages that fought with magic—most people thought it was just fantasy. Stories of an emerald eyed witch in Salem showed up several times—even one where she escaped the stake when the fire was lit, but the news was dismissed as embellishment or madness.
This is pointless.
Finding a mention of the witch in my lifetime wasn’t as fruitful as finding mentions of her throughout history. It was clear that she took steps to conceal who she really was with the modern age of technology providing even more eyes on everything she could have done. The story from Shane and Braden seemed to reinforce that. She came to them in the middle of a club, yet none of the people around them seemed to notice.
Returning to Camelot would be difficult, but it would not be easy to simply leave again. If my father struggled or didn’t handle it well, I couldn’t very well hike back to the gas station and call for him another time. He would come, but it would be a lot harder for him to understand why I went back. I needed to convince him that the men in the castle were not the beasts he remembered and that we had something special. I had to let the thoughts rest. It was going to be incredibly difficult to explain it to him and after returning to my life, he had been so much better off. Leaving him again was going to hurt the both of us. I let my finger rest on the golden band as a sigh passed my lips.
I miss you. I miss you all.
Chapter 21: Alexander
One day turned into two. That turned into a week. We huddled around Merlin’s mirrors periodically to check in on Anabelle. All of us were hoping she would take care of her father, show him that she was still alive, and return to us. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she never came back. Having her there in the castle had been a gift, but we were foolish to think we could have it forever. We were doomed to be beasts and even when Anabelle saved us from that fate, we were still trapped in our mistakes. They carried us towards the end of eternity in a binding that could not simply be erased by the touch of a woman. We were men again, but we were still lost souls twirling in the torment of our past. We created it, and while we were finally able to understand why it was the fate we were handed, life became more difficult without Anabelle. We seemed to drift into our own self-reflection. Without Anabelle there, we were no longer as united as we were before she left. The twins returned to the west wing, Randall spent more time hunting than he spent in the castle, and Arthur rarely left the northern wing. Boone and I were usually the only two in the main part of the castle and while we came together for dinner, it wasn’t as exciting as it was with her.
“I checked on her earlier. She’s researching Guinevere. I don’t understand these new books with moving pages, but it seems like she is hunting her.” Arthur pulled his chair close to the table, although he didn’t eat.
“We should have known she would do that.” Boone shook his head back and forth with a solemn look on his face. “It won’t end well if she manages to find the witch.”
“There is no magic we can use to contact her?” Braden looked over at Arthur. “Surely Merlin had some tricks up his sleeve that would still work in our time.”
“Most of the things he made were bound to him and to his very essence. It took a lot out of him to create items imbued with magic that would survive. He normally only did that with gifts.” Arthur looked around the room. “We have the mirrors...”
“If only you could find a way to wield Excalibur again.” Shane picked up his bread and took a bite. “That’s what we need right now.”
“It no longer responds to me.” Arthur sighed and looked down at his plate. “If there was a way, I would have found it in the years I’ve spent here. Excalibur is as useless as the utensils you use to consume your food.”
Hope was a gift that had started to sour in the castle with Anabelle gone. I watched her sometimes late at night when I had trouble sleeping. Her father seemed to be a new man, reborn with her nearby once again. I recognized the glimmer in his eyes, even if it was father’s love instead of the passion I felt for his daughter. Mine was fading as fast as his was growing. The beastly tendencies I had were starting to manifest again. My humanity was slipping away. I could see it in the others as well. They were struggling in our life without Anabelle. I tried to pry Excalibur from the stone prison that held it several times after Anabelle was gone. I knew m
y heart was far from pure, but I still felt like it was the answer. Anabelle seemed determined to find the witch and it worried me to no end. The worst part wasn’t that she was searching—it was my fear that with her determination, she might actually find her.
“COME QUICK!” ARTHUR’S words roused us from our slumber as we slept. I opened my eyes and looked over at him.
“What is going on?” I blinked until my eyes were in focus and sat up.
“It’s Guinevere!” Arthur motioned for me to follow. “She’s found Anabelle!”
“What?” My voice roared and I started to run as I got out of bed.
I ran to Arthur’s room as he started to wake up the others. When I pushed my finger into the mirror and wished to see Anabelle, I felt my heart sink into my stomach. She appeared to be at her house. The witch that I remembered from my time before the castle was standing across from her. Guinevere hadn’t aged a day. She still looked exactly the same. The rest of the men started to arrive and all of us had our eyes locked on the mirror. There was nothing we could do. Somehow, the witch had found Anabelle even as she searched for her. The screens in the background suggested she had been researching the witch as she arrived. There was a look of real terror on Anabelle’s face. She had no means to fight a witch. She was a mortal facing down the devil’s power. I wrapped my hands around the mirror as I stared. We couldn’t hear what was going on, but the sight told the whole story. Anabelle was in grave danger and there was nothing we could do about it. I saw her hold up her hand and squeeze it. She was activating the ring—that meant she was coming back to us—but it also meant she was bringing the witch’s wrath with her.
“What do we do?” I looked to Arthur. “If Anabelle comes to us, the witch will follow!”
“Quick!” Arthur ran to the wall and pulled down one of the mirrors. “These mirrors can reflect her magic. I saw Merlin do it in a battle with Mordred once. It won’t be enough to stop her, but maybe we can slow her down long enough for Anabelle to escape.”
“I’ll stick with my bow.” Randall pulled his bow off of his back and notched an arrow, pointing it towards the floor.
“If this is going to be the end, then we go down fighting like men.” Braden ripped a mirror off and handed it to Shane before pulling another one free for himself.
“We just need to hold her off long enough for Anabelle to escape—even if it kills us.” Arthur put the mirror in front of him.
“The witch will continue to hunt her.” Boone took a mirror and held it in his hands. “Even if she can escape, there is no way we will be able to hold the witch off forever.”
“This is the only chance we have.” Arthur’s knuckles were white as he clenched the mirror.
Chapter 22: Anabelle
It was time for me to go. I was torn between two worlds. One held the life I had known with my father who loved me very much and the other was with seven men who needed me. I wasn’t going to be able to tell my father the truth. I didn’t even feel like I could say the words. I wrote every thought down and left the letter on the table in his library. He would find it after work and the words wouldn’t make sense to him, but he would at least know I wasn’t in danger. Anyone who read it besides him would think it was nothing more than fantasy. I described what I found out after he left and how we had grown close. I left out the parts I didn’t think a father should ever hear about his daughter, but I made sure it was clear that I cared for them. I even described the witch, the curse, and King Arthur—even though I thought that was probably too much for him to wrap his mind around. He had seen the beasts, but their story was incredible. I was ready to use the ring bestowed to Arthur and Guinevere on their wedding day. I was ready to return to Camelot.
I loaded up my computer and looked over everything I had discovered about the witch, but none of it was a real answer. I let my hand close on the ring several times, but the courage inside me waned. When I was an instant away from being returned, I opened my hand and considered the choice I was making. As I stared at the band, I heard a noise and turned to see the most vivid set of emerald green eyes I had ever seen in my life.
“I never thought I would feel Merlin’s magic in this world again.” The witch took a step forward and her eyes reflected anger. “You’ve been to Camelot...”
“Guinevere...” I stood up and took a step back.
“You know my name.” She smiled and shook her head. “I guess that means you’ve met my beasts.”
“They’re not beasts!” I felt my heart beating wildly in my chest. “They’re men you locked away in a cage!”
“They were supposed to suffer for eternity for what they did. What is this I sense from you—this strange emotion. You care for them?” Guinevere tilted her head in confusion. “How is that possible?”
“I saw past what you did to them. I saw the humanity left behind after you tried to strip it from them. I helped them find it again.” I tensed up with my hand almost closed on the ring. I was going to have to use it, there was no doubt about that.
“Then I guess I’ll have to visit Camelot after I’m done here. I sensed something was wrong recently when I felt Merlin’s magic emanating from the castle, but I assumed it was Arthur playing with his toys.” Guinevere started to shimmer with a faint green glow. “I hope you enjoyed your time with the beasts, because you will never see them again. I will not curse you to spend eternity in torment like I did them, I will simply kill you where you stand and when I visit Camelot—I will lay your head at their feet. If they care for you in the same way you care for them, that will be just more agony for their eternity.”
“You have a chance to redeem yourself, Guinevere.” I took a step back, still feeling the fear inside me. “I know what Arthur did to you and I know why you cursed every man in the castle. You’ve been searching for something ever since you went down this road of vengeance. Excalibur turned on Arthur because of what he did to Lancelot. Camelot was going to fall with or without your curse.”
“It wasn’t enough for Camelot to fall—the man who killed my beloved had to feel the sting of my despair.” Guinevere narrowed her eyes.
“How many men have loved you and died since Camelot?” My hand trembled. I realized I was on borrowed time and if I didn’t act fast, my life was going to end with one flick of the witch’s hand. “The spell didn’t just curse them, it cursed you as well.”
“You’re wrong.” Guinevere shook her head. “I will have my happy ending—I’ll hunt it until the sun consumes the earth—but for now, you die.”
“No!” I shook my head and squeezed my hand to activate the ring.
If I was going to lose my life, I was going to lose it with the men I loved. She was going to them regardless when I was dead, so even a few seconds with them before it was all over was better than nothing. I felt the golden glow engulf me and as I jerked forward through empty space towards Arthur and the other ring, I felt a calmness settle over my body. My father would find the letter. He would assume I was living out my life where I wanted to be. He wouldn’t know I had been slain by a witch. My death might not save the ones in the castle, but at least he wouldn’t know that my story came to an end instead of beginning anew. I had no way to defeat Guinevere.
Perhaps if I had more time, I could have figured it out, but time wasn’t a gift for me. It was a curse for those in the castle and it was simply an hourglass ticking away the final seconds for me. It would hurt them all to watch me die—I just hoped it didn’t consume their humanity. My memory had to be enough to hold them back from the damnation they had endured from the curse. I saw Camelot appear and a second later I was materializing in front of Arthur. The seven had taken a fighting stance with mirrors in front of them. They had been watching. At least I wouldn’t have to explain myself.
“She’s coming!” I ran to Arthur and the seven of them wrapped me up in an embrace.
“We’ll hold her off as long as we can.” Alexander pushed me behind the group. “You have to get away from here.”
“Where will I go? I can’t hide from her. She’s got power that’s beyond anything this world has seen.” I grabbed Braden by the arm. “You have to let me face her. I don’t want to die like a coward running away from her.”
“You have to try!” Boone put his hands on my shoulders. “We’ll hold her off. Just run. Run until you can’t run anymore.”
“Start over somewhere else—forget about us.” Shane looked over at me. “Keep moving, never stay in one place for long.”
“Guinevere’s coming!” Arthur held up his mirror as a green light filled the room.
“Brace yourselves.” Gill held his mirror up and looked at the other guys. “Whatever happens, keep her away from Anabelle.”
“I’ll lay down my life before I’ll let this fucking witch touch Anabelle.” Alexander growled and the room rumbled in agreement.
“Go, Anabelle! Go now!” Shane pushed me towards the door.
“Oh it is too late for that...” Laughter filled the room and Guinevere appeared in a snap of green light. She threw her right hand out and the door immediately slammed, illuminated by her magic’s glow. “You are the main attraction.”
“You will not hurt her, witch!” Alexander broke from the group and circled the witch, putting himself between us.
“How delightful that all of you are so enamored by this mortal girl. She’s so fragile, don’t you know?” Guinevere threw a hand towards me, but before the blinding ball of green light could hit me, Alexander deflected it with the mirror.
“Guinevere, stop this!” Arthur took a step towards her with the mirror held out in front of him.
“Merlin’s magic...” Guinevere sighed. “I forgot how annoying it was. Either way, I will bathe this room in horror before any of you can stop me. Merlin’s relics aren’t powerful enough to hold me off forever.”
Seven Beasts_Reverse Harem Romance Page 14
